Protective clothing

ABSTRACT

Protective clothing is described which is not only excellent in wearing comfortability but also suppresses the occurrence of dew condensation even when accouterments are worn, where the protective clothing is coupled with a hood that is composed of a nonwoven fabric having a quantity of ventilation of 20 cm 3 /cm 2 /sec or more and 150 cm 3 /cm 2 /sec or less and a nonwoven fabric having a quantity of ventilation of 0 cm 3 /cm 2 /sec or more and 19 cm 3 /cm 2 /sec or less, the hood having an opening at a position to be center of a wearer&#39;s face and belt-shaped materials at an upper side of the opening and at lower portions of right and left sides of the opening, where the two belt-shaped materials are coupled with or are configured to be couplable with each other at right and left side heads.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is the U.S. National Phase application of PCT/JP2019/043611, filedNov. 7, 2019, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2018-217377, filed Nov. 20, 2018 and Japanese Patent Application No.2018-217378, filed Nov. 20, 2018, the disclosures of these applicationsbeing incorporated herein by reference in their entireties for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to protective clothing that is easily puton and taken off and has a high degree of tight fit to the head andface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When work is conducted in places where external harmful substances suchas dust, radioactivity, and viruses exist, protective clothing andprotective hoods are worn to protect the body from these. It should benoted that the protective clothing and the like do not touch thesurroundings when being put on. In food factories and clean rooms,protective clothing and protective hoods are worn for the purpose ofpreventing dirt such as particles and hair from the human body frombeing released to the outside. At this time, the mask and goggles arealso required to be equipped, and the wearer often feels sweaty anduncomfortable when wearing these for a long time.

Hence, “clean room wear” of which the foot openings are opened when puton and the shoulder openings are opened to take out the upper part ofthe body from the shoulder openings when taken off (Patent Document 1),“easy-to-wear clothes” in which both trousers and both sleeves ofclothing are shortened when put on and both legs and both hands areinserted in that state so that the clothes do not touch the surroundings(Patent Document 2), “dustproof hood” having a high degree of tight fitby filling the step between the nose and cheeks with a pad (PatentDocument 3), “protective clothing” that is put on over the protectivemask in a state where the protective mask is worn (Patent Document 4),and “protective clothing and fabric equipped with moisture permeability,waterproofness, and durability” which are excellent in chemicalresistance, waterproofness, and weight reduction and can be repeatedlywashed (Patent Document 5) have been proposed.

PATENT DOCUMENTS

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 5317444-   Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent No. 5380441-   Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.    10-155924-   Patent Document 4: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.    2018-82891-   Patent Document 5: Japanese Patent No. 6080925

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, the “clean room wear” that is described in Patent Document 1and provided with openings in the shoulders and inseam is not concernedthat the wear touches the floor surface when put on since the footopenings are fully opened and the wear is put on from above but isconcerned that the wear touches the floor surface when taken off sincethe shoulder openings are opened and the wear is taken off down.Additionally, when the foot openings and the shoulder openings areopened and closed, the fingers come into contact with the outside of thewear and the slide fastener and there is a risk of bacteria and dirtattachment.

The “easy-to-wear clothes” of Patent Document 2 can be put on withouttouching the surroundings as both trousers and both sleeves of clothingare shortened by pulling the anchor strips installed on the inside ofthereof and both legs and both hands are inserted in that state when puton, but the sewing process is complicated since there are a number ofaccessories to be installed such as a sheath through which the anchorstrip passes and a loop for fixing the anchor strip and an increase incost is a problem for disposable applications.

The “dustproof hood” described in Patent Document 3 and the “protectiveclothing” of Patent Document 4 are highly airtight protective clothingand are hot and humid and inferior in comfortability, for example, whenworn in a closed space such as a clean room. The protective clothingdescribed in Patent Document 5 is made by laminating multiple layers ofhighly waterproof materials, thus is also excellent in chemicalresistance and the like, but is hot and humid and inferior incomfortability when worn in a closed space such as a clean room. Inorder to reduce the sultriness, a method is considered that theprotective clothing is composed of a highly breathable material, but ithas also been revealed that water vapor evaporated from the body,especially from the head, undergoes dew condensation at the interfacebetween the accouterments such as goggles and the protective clothing.

An object of the present invention is to improve the drawbacks of theprior art and to provide protective clothing that is not only excellentin wearing comfortability but also suppresses the occurrence of dewcondensation even when accouterments are worn. Another object of thepresent invention is to provide protective clothing that can be easilyand reliably put on in a clean room.

In order to solve the above problems, the protective clothing of thepresent invention has any of the following configurations (1) to (11).

(1) Protective clothing coupled with a hood that is composed of anonwoven fabric having a quantity of ventilation of 20 cm³/cm²/sec ormore and 150 cm³/cm²/sec or less and a nonwoven fabric having a quantityof ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19 cm³/cm²/sec or less, inwhich the hood has an opening at a position to be center of a wearer'sface and belt-shaped materials at an upper side of the opening and atlower portions of right and left sides of the opening, and the twobelt-shaped materials are coupled with or configured to be couplablewith each other at right and left side heads.

(2) The protective clothing according to (1), wherein the opening isformed in front center of the hood, the opening having a size of 13 cmto 16 cm in width and 9 cm to 13 cm in length, and the nonwoven fabrichaving a quantity of ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19cm³/cm²/sec or less is disposed at least at a part around the opening.

(3) The protective clothing according to (1) or (2), wherein theprotective clothing comprises an upper garment having a length reachingvicinity of buttock top of a wearer and the hood is coupled onto theupper garment.

(4) The protective clothing according to (3) or (4), wherein theprotective clothing is packed in a packing bag by being folded so that afold peak formed by turning up hem of the upper garment outward isarranged on a surface.

(5) The protective clothing according to (3) or (4), wherein theprotective clothing comprises a lower garment that can cover from awaist portion to ankles.

(6) The protective clothing according to (5), wherein a tool fordimensions adjustment is provided at the waist portion of the lowergarment.

(7) The protective clothing according to (5) or (6), wherein theprotective clothing is packed in a packing bag by being folded so that afold peak formed by turning up the waist portion of the lower garmentoutward is arranged on a surface.

(8) The protective clothing according to (4) or (7), wherein theprotective clothing is packed so that the fold peak of the upper garmentand/or the fold peak of the lower garment are exposed when the packingbag is opened.

(9) The protective clothing according to any one of (1) to (8), whereinthe protective clothing has been subjected to sterilization processing.

(10) The protective clothing according to any one of (1) to (9), whereinthe protective clothing is for use in a clean room.

(11) The protective clothing according to any one of (1) to (10),wherein the protective clothing is disposable.

The protective clothing of the present invention is not only excellentin wearing comfortability but also suppresses the occurrence of dewcondensation even when accouterments are worn since a hood that iscomposed of two kinds of nonwoven fabrics having different quantities ofventilation is coupled onto a coverall, an upper garment or the like. Inparticular, even though accouterments such as goggles are worn when theprotective clothing is worn in a closed space such as a clean room, dewcondensation is suppressed at the interface with the goggles bydisposing a nonwoven fabric having a small quantity of ventilationaround the opening that is provided in the front center of the hood andcorresponds to the position to be the center of the wearer's face; andso the protective clothing of the present invention is an extremelyexcellent protective clothing for practical use.

In a case where the protective clothing of the present invention isdivided into an upper garment and a lower garment and placed in apacking bag by turning up the hem of the upper garment and/or the waistof the lower garment outward, the protective clothing of the presentinvention can be put on easily and reliably without touching the outsideas much as possible when put on and is a disposable protective clothingsuitable for wearing in a clean room and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of an upper garment in protective clothingindicating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the front face of a hood portion of anupper garment in protective clothing indicating an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the rear face of a hood portion of anupper garment in protective clothing indicating an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the No. 15, cheek bow width A, in theJapanese Anthropometric Dimension Data Book.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the No. 8, a distance B from a portionbetween eyebrows to chin, in the Japanese Anthropometric Dimension DataBook.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a general shape of hood.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a lower garment in protective clothingindicating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the waist rubber adjustment part of alower garment in protective clothing indicating an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state where an upper garment inprotective clothing indicating an embodiment of the present invention isfolded.

FIG. 10 is diagram illustrating a state where a lower garment inprotective clothing indicating an embodiment of the present invention isfolded.

FIG. 11 is diagram illustrating a state where an upper garment inprotective clothing indicating an embodiment of the present invention ispacked.

FIG. 12 is diagram illustrating a state where a lower garment inprotective clothing indicating an embodiment of the present invention ispacked.

FIG. 13 is a diagram in which a para-pollutant is attached to the frontbody of general coverall type protective clothing used in ReferenceExample 5.

FIG. 14 is a diagram in which a para-pollutant is attached to the backbody of general coverall type protective clothing used in ReferenceExample 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The protective clothing of the present invention is coupled with a hoodthat is composed of a nonwoven fabric (hereinafter referred to as highlybreathable nonwoven fabric) having a quantity of ventilation of 20cm³/cm²/sec or more and 150 cm³/cm²/sec or less and a nonwoven fabric(hereinafter referred to as low breathable nonwoven fabric) having aquantity of ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19 cm³/cm²/sec orless. When the highly breathable nonwoven fabric has a quantity ofventilation of less than 20 cm³/cm²/sec, the wearer easily gets sweatyand the protective clothing is inferior in wearing comfortability. Whenthe highly breathable nonwoven fabric has a quantity of ventilation ofmore than 150 cm³/cm²/sec, the dust collection efficiency is inferiorand it may be difficult to prevent the intrusion of contaminants frominside and outside. By using a low breathable nonwoven fabric having aquantity of ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19 cm³/cm²/sec orless at the same time, the protective clothing becomes the one that cansuppress dew condensation.

In the hood that covers the wearer's head, an opening is formed at theposition to be the center of the wearer's face and belt-shaped materialsare provided at the upper side of the opening and at the lower portionsof the right and left sides of the opening. The two belt-shapedmaterials are coupled with or are configured to be couplable with eachother on the right and left side heads.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specificallydescribed with reference to the drawings by taking protective clothingin which a hood is coupled onto an upper garment as an example.

For example, in protective clothing 100 of the present inventionillustrated in FIG. 1, a hood 2 which covers the wearer's head and inwhich an opening 3 is formed at the position to be the center of thewearer's face is sewn on an upper garment 1.

The material for the main body of the upper garment 1 is preferably ahighly breathable nonwoven fabric 7 having a quantity of ventilation of20 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 150 cm³/cm²/sec or less. In the case ofwearing, for example, goggles on the hood worn, when the hood 2 iscomposed of only the nonwoven fabric having a high quantity ofventilation, moisture inside the hood, namely, insensible perspirationfrom the body, passes through the highly breathable nonwoven fabric tothe surface and easily undergoes dew condensation in the area betweenthe hood and the goggles or goggle belt. Hence, in the presentinvention, comfortable wearability is achieved while eliminating defectssuch as dew condensation by, for example, using a low breathablenonwoven fabric 6 having a quantity of ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec ormore and 19 cm³/cm²/sec or less in a range where goggles or gogglesbelts are worn and combining the highly breathable nonwoven fabric 7which is a material having a large quantity of ventilation in theregions other than this region.

As illustrated in dark colors in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 9, thelow breathable nonwoven fabric 6 is preferably arranged at least at apart of the area around the sides of the opening. Among others, by usingthe low breathable nonwoven fabric 6 at the area where the goggle beltis worn (namely, the area where the goggle belt comes into contact) asillustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it is possible to eliminate defectssuch as dew condensation when the goggle belt is worn. It is preferableto use the low breathable nonwoven fabric 6 for an upper sidebelt-shaped material 4 and for right and left sides belt-shapedmaterials 5 from the viewpoint of further preventing dew condensation.

The eyes, nose, and mouth can be exposed by forming an opening 3 in thefront center of the hood of the protective clothing. The size of theopening 3 is preferably 13 cm to 16 cm, more preferably about 15 cm inwidth (horizontal direction). The length (vertical direction) of theopening is preferably 9 cm to 13 cm, more preferably 11 cm to 12 cm.These are numbers calculated with reference to the JapaneseAnthropometric Dimension Data Book 2004 to 2006 published by theResearch Institute of Human Engineering for Quality Life, the widthdirection is based on the cheek bow width A illustrated in FIG. 4 andthe length direction is based on the distance B from a portion betweeneyebrows to chin illustrated in FIG. 5, and this size is considered tobe a size that minimizes skin exposure and does not interfere with theline of sight. In the present invention, it is preferable that the lowbreathable nonwoven fabric 6 is arranged at least at a part of thevicinity of the opening 3 having such a size.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the protective clothing of the presentinvention has an upper side belt-shaped material 4 at the upper side ofthe opening 3 and right and left sides belt-shaped materials 5 at thelower portions of the right and left sides and the two belt-shapedmaterials (upper side belt-shaped material 4 and right and left sidesbelt-shaped materials 5) are coupled with or are configured to becouplable with each other at the positions of right and left side headsC. By providing the upper side belt-shaped material 4, the hood can befit more tightly to the forehead portion and the hood can be preventedfrom shifting when the head and neck are moved to the right and left. Inthe case of not having the upper side belt-shaped material 4, a gap isformed between the hood and the forehead when the head and neck aremoved and it is difficult to highly prevent the intrusion ofcontaminants from inside and outside. By arranging the right and leftsides belt-shaped materials 5 at the lower portion of each of the rightand left sides of the opening 3 in addition to the upper sidebelt-shaped material 4, the degree of tight fit of the hood can befurther increased. As illustrated in the region C in FIG. 2, when theupper side belt-shaped material 4 and the right and left sidesbelt-shaped materials 5 are integrated or configured to be integratable,the number of putting on steps can be decreased and the degree of tightfit is improved since the forehead and the sides of the opening can bepulled together.

In the case of wearing goggles, the goggle belt is rotated from thefront of the hood through the side head to the back of the head to beworn, and the belt-shaped materials are disposed around the goggle belt.Hence, it is desirable that the periphery of the belt-shaped material isalso composed of the low breathable nonwoven fabric 6 which is amaterial having a small quantity of ventilation. In other words, it ispreferable that the upper side belt-shaped material 4, the right andleft sides belt-shaped materials 5, and the region from the right andleft sides of the opening to the back of the hood are composed of thelow breathable nonwoven fabric 6 as illustrated in dark colors in FIG. 2and FIG. 3. By doing so, it is possible to more reliably prevent theoccurrence of dew condensation due to insensible perspiration from thebody at the portion where the goggles are worn.

The engaging method of the upper side belt-shaped material 4 may be anystructure as long as the upper side belt-shaped material 4 can beengaged with tension applied; for example, both right and left endportions are pulled and fastened in accordance with the vicinity of thehead circumference. Both end portions of the upper side belt-shapedmaterial 4 may intersect each other and be tied at the back of the head,a hook-and-loop fastener or double-sided tape may be attached to theends of the upper side belt-shaped material 4 and both end portions ofthe upper side belt-shaped material 4 may be brought into contact witheach other and fixed, or the double-sided tape may be pasted to the sideface of the head to fix the upper side belt-shaped material 4. The upperside belt-shaped material 4 is required to have a length equal to orlonger than the wearer's head circumference in the case of being fixedas both end portions thereof intersect each other and tied.

With regard to the shape of the hood, the hood can fit more tightly tothe head by being configured by sewing an approximately perfect circlefabric 8 constituting the portion corresponding to the top of the headand an approximately trapezoid fabric 9 constituting the portioncorresponding to the side head together, for example, as illustrated inFIG. 2. In general, there is a hood in which two right and left clothesof the same shape are sewn together as illustrated in FIG. 6, but thehood having the shape illustrated in FIG. 2 is adopted in the presentinvention from the viewpoint that the correct position of the foreheadis easily fixed, the visual field is not obstructed even when the headis moved, and the wearing feeling is excellent.

The above aspect is an example; in the case of wearing accoutermentsother than goggles, it is preferable to arrange a low breathablenonwoven fabric at the area corresponding to the wearing position of theaccouterments.

The protective clothing of the present invention may have an aspect inwhich the hood is coupled onto the coverall in addition to an aspect inwhich the hood is coupled onto the upper garment of the protectiveclothing as illustrated in FIG. 1. However, when protective clothing,especially protective clothing subjected to sterilization processing isput on in a clean room and the like, it is required to quickly put onthe protective clothing so that the protective clothing and the humanbody do not touch the floor and walls and further the hands do not touchthe front side of the protective clothing as much as possible. Ingeneral, protective clothing to be worn in a clean room and the like isa coverall type in which the upper garment and the lower garment areconnected with each other in most cases and the clothing is long, andthus it takes a long time keeping an awkward posture to wear. Forexample, the wearer puts on the protective clothing in a state ofraising one leg, and this loads the wearer with heavy mental andphysical burdens. Further, the protective clothing is required to bequickly put on so as not to touch the floor and walls when it is put on.Hence, an aspect in which the upper garment and the lower garment areseparated from each other is preferred to a coverall type protectiveclothing of which the putting on order is complicated and which requiresa long time to be put on.

As the upper garment at this time, an upper garment onto which the hoodis coupled and which has a length reaching the vicinity of the buttocktop of the wearer is preferable since the upper garment can overlap thelower garment and raising dust from the human body can be prevented. The“vicinity of buttock top” as used herein means a range of 10 cm in thevertical direction around the buttock top, namely, the most protrudingportion of the buttocks.

The upper garment may be a type that can be opened and closed with afastener or a parka type that is pulled over the head, but a parka typethat is pulled over the head is more preferable from the viewpoint ofrequiring fewer putting on steps.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, it is preferable to install an elasticmaterial 12 on the side hem of the upper garment 1 since it is possibleto prevent the hem of the upper garment from slipping up and flying outof the lower garment when the arm is raised. As the elastic material 12,flat rubber, rib knitted fabric, and the like can be used, but it ismore preferable to use elastic rubber from the viewpoint of cost and ofbeing easy to handle.

Examples of the lower garment in the present invention include a lowergarment 10 capable of covering from the waist portion to the ankles asillustrated in FIG. 7. The lower garment 10 can be fixed to the waist bysimply allowing both legs to pass through the lower garment and pullingthe lower garment up since an elastic material 13 (elastic rubber or thelike) is inserted in the waist in this lower garment 10 as illustratedin FIG. 8.

The elastic rubber inserted into the waist is required to have a lengthto be about 0.7 to 0.9 times the body waist size. When the length isshorter than 0.7 times the body waist size, the lower garment hardlypasses through the buttocks and the waist is too tight to wear for along time. Meanwhile, it is not preferable that the length is longerthan 0.9 times the body waist size since the lower garment may slidedown while being worn. When the length is in the above range, the waistportion is slightly caught by the buttocks when the lower garment passesthrough the buttocks but the lower garment can be fitted to the waistafter passing.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, it is more preferable to attach a tool fordimensions adjustment 11 to the elastic material 13 (for example, theend portion). When the tool for dimensions adjustment 11 is attached, itis more preferable that the elastic material 13 have a length to beabout 1.3 to 1.6 times the body waist size, is loosened when the lowergarment is put on, and can be adjusted to the wearer's waist size afterthe lower garment has been put on. In the case of the elastic material13 being too short, the lower garment is caught by the buttocks whenbeing put on and it is difficult to smoothly put on the lower garment.In the case of it being too long, the lower garment slides down whenbeing put on, it is required to hold the outside of the lower garment upby hands, and this tends to cause problems in terms of ease of puttingon and contact with the outside. As illustrated in FIG. 8, it ispreferable that the tool for dimensions adjustment 11 is arranged sothat the dimensions adjusting operation can be performed on the backside (inside) of the lower garment 10 from the viewpoint of being ableto avoid touching the surface of the protective clothing.

The protective clothing composed of the combination of the upper garment1 onto which the hood is coupled and which has a length reaching thevicinity of the buttock top and the lower garment 10 that can cover fromthe waist portion to the ankles as described above can be put on quicklyand reliably with fewer putting on steps and less burden on the worker'sputting on posture.

As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, the protective clothing of thepresent invention is preferably packed in a packing bag 18 until used.In order to put on the protective clothing, first the upper garment 1 istaken out from the packing bag 18 and is pulled over the hood, both armspass through the sleeves, and the belt-shaped material of the opening isfixed at the back of the head. In this way, the protective clothing ofthe present invention can be easily put on without requiring to take anawkward posture. In the case of the lower garment as well, the lowergarment is taken out from the packing bag 18, the legs are put into thetrousers from the waist portion one by one, and the lower garment isfixed at the waist portion. In this way, the lower garment can be easilyput on without requiring to take an awkward posture.

When the protective clothing of the present invention is packed, it ispreferable that the protective clothing is folded so that the hem of theupper garment 1 is turned up outward and placed in a packing bag, forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 9. In particular, it is preferable thatthe protective clothing is folded so that the fold peak formed byturning up the hem of the upper garment outward is arranged on thesurface and this is placed in a packing bag. It is preferable to packthe protective clothing so that at least a part of the fold peak isexposed when the opening port of the packing bag is opened. If theprotective clothing is folded in this way, the wearer can hold the backside of the protective clothing by grasping the fold peak formed byturning up the hem of the upper garment outward, and, as a result, thewearer can put on the protective clothing without touching the frontside of the protective clothing as much as possible and without takingan awkward posture. As a turned up amount 15, the hem of the uppergarment 1 is preferably turned up by 10 cm to 20 cm from the viewpointof the folded shape and ease of grasping.

Similarly, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the lower garment 10 is alsofolded so that the waist is turned up outward and placed in a packingbag so that the formed fold peak is disposed on the surface. It ispreferable to pack the lower garment 10 so that at least a part of thefold peak is exposed when the opening port of the packing bag is opened.A turned up amount 16 is preferably about 5 cm to 25 cm from a waist end17 since the inside can be grasped. Among these, it is more preferableto turn up the lower garment by about 20 to 25 cm since the length ofthe lower garment is short when taken out from the packing bag and thelower garment can be easily put on without touching the walls and floor.

When the protective clothing is packed, it is preferable that theprotective clothing is packed by placing each of the upper garment andthe lower garment in a packing bag so as not to collapse the state ofbeing folded as described above. It is preferable that the protectiveclothing is folded and packed so that the fold peak of each of the uppergarment and the lower garment is arranged on the surface when theopening port of the packing bag is opened. The upper garment and lowergarment may be packed in the same bag or may be packed separately.Provided that it is more preferable to pack the upper garment and lowergarment separately since one of these is wasted when it is required toreplace the protective clothing for the reason that either the uppergarment or the lower garment is dirty, damaged or the like at the timeof opening. However, in a case where the upper garment and the lowergarment are packed in the same packing bag, it is preferable that theupper garment and the lower garment are folded and packed so that thefold peak of either the upper garment or lower garment is exposed whenthe opening port of the packing bag is opened and the fold peak ofeither the remaining lower garment or upper garment is exposed when thisis taken out.

The packing bag is not particularly limited and is preferably a bagthrough which the sterilization gas can permeate. It is preferable thatthe packing bag is provided with an opening port from the viewpoint ofbeing able to promote smooth putting on. The aspect of the opening portis not particularly limited, but it is preferable to provide a notch 19for opening on the side face of the bag from the viewpoint ofmanufacturing convenience and appearance and of being easy to find theopening port.

The protective clothing of the present invention enclosed in a packingbag is preferably finished by being subjected to sterilizationprocessing. The sterilization processing referred to here is processingfor killing bacteria and viruses, and it is possible to use ordinarytechniques. Specifically, it is possible to adopt a method in whichbacteria and viruses are killed by irradiating the protective clothingwith high-energy rays such as ultraviolet rays, electron beams, andgamma beams or by exposing the protective clothing to ethylene oxidegas. Among these, in the case of using a material subjected to anelectret processing for the protective clothing, it is preferable toperform the sterilization processing using ethylene oxide gas in orderto maintain the performance by the electret processing even after thesterilization processing.

The protective clothing of the present invention can be used in a cleanroom by being subjected to the sterilization processing.

The protective clothing of the present invention is preferablydisposable. It is preferable to dispose the protective clothing everytime the protective clothing is taken off for safety reasons since thereis the possibility that contaminants adhere to the protective clothing.It is more preferable to use a nonwoven fabric which is inexpensive anddoes not require the management of cloth ends for this purpose.

The protective clothing may be sewn by a general method; it ispreferably sewn using an overlock machine or a flat seaming machine orsewn so as to cover the cloth ends with piping tape when it isconsidered that the manufactured protective clothing is used in a cleanroom. Among these, the method using piping tape is most preferable sincethe cloth end portions are not exposed and the generation of dust fromthe cloth end portions can be minimized.

The material used for the protective clothing of the present invention(hereinafter referred to as cloth for protective clothing) is onlyrequired to basically be a nonwoven fabric exhibiting breathability asdescribed above, and examples thereof include a single layer of nonwovenfabric and a laminate using nonwoven fabrics. As examples of thelaminate, three-layer laminates of an SMS structure (spunbonded nonwovenfabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric/spunbonded nonwoven fabric) and an SFSstructure (spunbonded nonwoven fabric/film/spunbonded nonwoven fabric)and an SF structure (spunbonded nonwoven fabric/film) are well known.The SMS structure and SFS structure are one of the preferred forms sincea functional material can be used for the middle layer and thespunbonded nonwoven fabric on the front and back layers acts as aprotective layer from the outside and can provides texture and softness.Meanwhile, the SF structure is preferable from the viewpoint ofexhibiting excellent cloth flexibility due to a two-layer structure andnot allowing air and moisture to permeate.

By appropriately selecting the cloth for protective clothing, it ispossible to adjust the quantity of ventilation to the target quantity ofventilation described above. Specifically, for the protective clothingmain body (the portions composed of highly breathable nonwoven fabric ofthe upper garment 1, the lower garment 10, and the hood 2), it ispreferable to adopt a nonwoven fabric having an SMS structure having aquantity of ventilation of 20 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 150 cm³/cm²/sec orless. For the portions composed of low breathable nonwoven fabric of thehood 2, it is preferable to select a nonwoven fabric having an SFstructure having a quantity of ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and19 cm³/cm²/sec or less.

Hereinafter, preferred forms of the cloth for protective clothing aredescribed, respectively.

[Spunbonded Nonwoven Fabric]

Examples of the fibers constituting the spunbonded nonwoven fabric usedas the cloth for protective clothing include synthetic fibers andnatural fibers, but synthetic fibers are preferable from the viewpointof being able to arbitrarily set the fiber diameter.

Examples of the materials for the fibers constituting the spunbondednonwoven fabric include polyolefins such as polyethylene andpolypropylene, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate andpolylactic acid, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyphenylene sulfide,fluororesins, and mixtures thereof. Among these, polyolefins arepreferable from the viewpoint of the productivity and excellent textureof the cloth for protective clothing.

The average fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the spunbondednonwoven fabric is preferably 18 μm or more and 30 μm or less. When theaverage fiber diameter is 18 μm or more, the spunbonded nonwoven fabricexhibits excellent breathability, and as a result, a favorableventilation rate of the cloth for protective clothing can be obtained.When the average fiber diameter is 30 μm or less, a spunbonded nonwovenfabric having soft texture can be obtained.

The average fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the spunbondednonwoven fabric can be thinned by, for example, decreasing the amount ofresin discharged, increasing the discharge speed, and increasing thedegree of stretching of fibers when the fibers constituting thespunbonded nonwoven fabric are produced.

The thickness of the spunbonded nonwoven fabric is preferably 150 μm ormore and 300 μm or less. It is possible to improve the dischargingproperty of residual gas at the time of sterilization processing whenthe thickness of the spunbonded nonwoven fabric is 300 μm or less; thestrength of the cloth for protective clothing is further improved whenthe thickness of the spunbonded nonwoven fabric is 150 μm or more.

It is possible to impart various functions to the spunbonded nonwovenfabric as long as the effects of the present invention are not impaired.It is possible to impart functions such as water repellency, oilrepellency, antistatic function, flame retardant, bacteria-proof, andmildew proof to the spunbonded nonwoven fabric.

[Meltblown Nonwoven Fabric]

Examples of the fibers constituting the meltblown nonwoven fabric usedas the cloth for protective clothing include synthetic fibers andnatural fibers, but synthetic fibers are preferable from the viewpointof being able to arbitrarily set the fiber diameter.

Examples of the materials for the fibers constituting the meltblownnonwoven fabric include polyolefins such as polyethylene andpolypropylene, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate andpolylactic acid, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyphenylene sulfide,fluororesins, and mixtures thereof. Among these, polyolefins arepreferable from the viewpoint of the productivity and excellent textureof the cloth for protective clothing.

The meltblown nonwoven fabric can be obtained by a melt blowing method.The melt blowing method is generally a method in which a thermoplasticpolymer extruded from the spinneret is injected with hot air to bethinned into a fiber shape and a web is formed by utilizing theself-fusing property of this fiber. As the spinning conditions in themelt blowing method, there are the amount of polymer discharged, nozzletemperature, air pressure and the like, and a nonwoven fabric having adesired fiber diameter can be obtained by optimizing these spinningconditions.

The meltblown nonwoven fabric preferably contains a polyolefin-basedresin as a main component. As the polyolefin-based resin is used as themain component of the meltblown nonwoven fabric, the productivity andtexture of the cloth for protective clothing are favorable. Among thepolyolefin-based resins, polypropylene is still more preferable from theviewpoint that the dust collecting performance of the cloth forprotective clothing is easily improved by electret processing. Here, thefact that the meltblown nonwoven fabric contains a polyolefin-basedresin as a main component means that the meltblown nonwoven fabriccontains a polyolefin-based resin at 80% by mass or more with respect tothe entire mass of the meltblown nonwoven fabric as described above. Itis preferable that the meltblown nonwoven fabric contains apolyolefin-based resin at 90% by mass or more with respect to the entiremass of the meltblown nonwoven fabric, and it is more preferable thatthe meltblown nonwoven fabric is formed from only a polyolefin-basedresin.

The average fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the meltblownnonwoven fabric is preferably 3 μm or more and 8 μm or less. When theaverage fiber diameter is 8 μm or less, the dust collecting efficiencyby the meltblown nonwoven fabric is favorable; as a result, the dustcollecting efficiency by the cloth for protective clothing is favorable.Meanwhile, when the average fiber diameter is 3 μm or more, thebreathability of the meltblown nonwoven fabric and the dischargingproperty of residual gas at the time of sterilization processing aresuperior; as a result, the ventilation rate of the cloth for protectiveclothing and the discharging property of residual gas are morefavorable.

The average fiber diameter of the fibers constituting the meltblownnonwoven fabric can be adjusted by ordinary techniques. Specifically,the fibers can be thinned by decreasing the amount of resin discharged,increasing the discharge speed, and increasing the degree of stretchingof fibers when the fibers used for the meltblown nonwoven fabric areproduced.

The thickness of the meltblown nonwoven fabric is preferably 100 μm ormore and 200 μm or less. When the thickness of the meltblown nonwovenfabric is 200 μm or less, the cloth for protective clothing fabric canobtain a favorable ventilation rate and favorable discharging propertyof residual gas. Meanwhile, when the thickness of the meltblown nonwovenfabric is 100 μm or more, the dust collecting efficiency by themeltblown nonwoven fabric is favorable; as a result, the dust collectingefficiency by the cloth for protective clothing is favorable.

[Film]

As the film used for the cloth for protective clothing, various filmsobtained by ordinary techniques can be used, but a film exhibitingmoisture permeable waterproof properties is preferable among these.Here, the film means a sheet obtained from a resin which istwo-dimensionally extruded. As the film exhibiting moisture permeablewaterproof properties, there are, for example, a microporous filmobtained by filling and dispersing an inorganic filler in a resin andstretching the resin and a microporous film obtained by mixing a solubleresin and an insoluble resin with a certain solvent and eluting only thesoluble portion with the solvent.

As the material for the film, polyolefins such as polyethylene andpolypropylene are preferable from the viewpoint of the productivity andexcellent texture of the cloth for protective clothing.

[Laminating Method]

As the method for laminating the spunbonded nonwoven fabric, meltblownnonwoven fabric, film and the like that constitute the cloth forprotective clothing, a method that does not impair the performance ofthe present invention may be adopted. Supersonic wave adhesionprocessing, heat adhesion processing using a thermal embossing rollhaving a handle height of 1 mm or more, and stacking processing using anadhesive can be used in order to prevent the spunbonded nonwoven fabricand the meltblown nonwoven fabric from melting or fusing beyond thedesired state by excessive heat. Among these, stacking processing usingan adhesive is preferable particularly in order to uniformly bond theregions to which the spunbonded nonwoven fabric, the meltblown nonwovenfabric, and the film are bonded, respectively.

[Electretization]

It is preferable that the cloth for protective clothing is anelectretized nonwoven fabric of which the layer configuration ispartially or wholly electretized, and it is more preferable that themeltblown nonwoven fabric is an electretized meltblown nonwoven fabric.As a part or whole of the layer configuration of the cloth forprotective clothing is composed of an electretized nonwoven fabric, thedust collecting performance is improved while securing a highventilation rate of the cloth for protective clothing. As a part orwhole of the layer configuration of the cloth for protective clothing iscomposed of an electretized nonwoven fabric, it is possible to suppressthe generation of lint of short fibers, foreign substances and the likethat are contained in the cloth when the cloth for protective clothingis formed.

As the method for electretization, various known methods can be adopted,and electretization can be performed, for example, by corona dischargeand water flow. A part of the materials for the layer configuration maybe electretized and then lamination may be performed by theabove-described laminating method, or all the materials for the layerconfiguration may be laminated and then electretization may beperformed.

EXAMPLES

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specificallywith reference to Examples, Comparative Examples, and ReferenceExamples, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The qualityevaluation of protective clothing used in Examples, ComparativeExamples, and Reference Examples was carried out by the followingmethods.

(Measuring Methods in Examples and Comparative Examples)

(1) Quantity of Ventilation

The amount of air passing through a test piece having a size of 15 cm×15cm was measured by N=3 based on JIS L 1913: 2010 6.8.1 Frazier method,and the average value thereof was taken as the breathability.

(2) Collecting Efficiency

Samples for measurement were collected from ten locations, and eachsample was measured using a collecting performance measuring apparatus.In this collecting performance measuring apparatus, a dust storage boxis connected to the upstream side of the sample holder in which themeasurement sample is set, and a flow meter, a flow adjusting valve, anda blower are connected to the downstream side. The number of dust on theupstream side and the number of dust on the downstream side of themeasurement sample can be each measured via the switching cock using aparticle counter in the sample holder. A pressure gauge is provided inthe sample holder to read the static pressure difference between theupstream and downstream of the sample.

To measure the collecting performance, a polystyrene standard latexpowder having a diameter of 0.3 μm (a solution of 0.309 U polystyrenewith a concentration of 10% by mass manufactured by NACALAI TESQUE, INC.diluted 200 times with distilled water) was filled in the dust storagebox, the sample was set in the sample holder, and the air volume wasadjusted with the flow adjusting valve so that the filter passing speedwas 3 m/min, the dust concentration was stabilized in a range of 10,000to 40,000 particles/2.83×10⁻⁴ m³ (0.01 ft³), the number of dust D in theupstream and the number of dust d in the downstream of the sample weremeasured three times per sample using the particle counter (KC-01Emanufactured by RION CO., LTD.), and the collecting performance (%) wasdetermined by the following equation. The average value for the tensamples was calculated.

Collecting efficiency (%)=[1−(d/D)]×100

(3) Wearing Feeling

Sensory evaluation was performed on the wearing comfortability, ease ofputting on, fixing property of hood, visibility, and the presence orabsence of dew condensation in the hood when monitors wore protectiveclothing and goggles and a mask on the protective clothing and performedwork for 20 minutes in an environment of 25° C.×40% RH. The evaluationcriteria are presented in Table 1. The value acquired by calculating androunding off the average of the scores given by the respective fivemonitors was adopted.

TABLE 1 Presence or absence Wearing Fixing property of of dewcondensation comfortability Ease of putting on hood Visibility in hood 3Comfortable to wear Can be immediately Fit tightly and not Field ofvision is Dew condensation put on shifted not interfered even does notoccur when head is moved 2 Slightly Taking some time to Slightly shiftedField of vision is Dew condensation uncomfortable but put on butcorrectable slightly shifted slightly occurs in endurable level whenhead is moved but self- correctable 1 Uncomfortable to Taking time toput Not fit tightly and Hood is shifted Dew condensation wear on shiftedwhen head is moved occurs and hardly correctable

(Measuring Methods in Reference Examples)

(1) Number of putting on procedures

(2) Putting on time

(3) Contact property to outside

(1), (2), and (3) are evaluated at the same time.

Monitors put on latex gloves, 2 cc of an aqueous solution of fluorescentbrightener was sprayed on the palm as a para-pollutant, then themonitors took out the protective clothing from the sterilized packingbag and put on the protective clothing so as not to touch the outside asmuch as possible, and the number of putting on procedures and putting ontime at that time were measured.

Thereafter, the lights in the room were switched off and a black lightwas applied to the monitors to visually examine the attachment ofpara-pollutant. The fluorescent brightener glows pale when exposed toblack light, but the observation was performed except for theaccessories (fasteners and tapes) of the mask and protective clothing.

Example 1

Two spunbonded nonwoven fabrics were used, and a hot melt adhesiveheated to 150° C. and melted was applied to the first face of onespunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so that theamount applied was 2 g/m² using a hot melt adhesion machine. Thereafter,a meltblown nonwoven fabric was stacked on the first face of thespunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive. A hot meltadhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was further applied to themeltblown nonwoven fabric side of the obtained spunbonded nonwovenfabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so thatthe amount applied was 2 g/m². Thereafter, the other spunbonded nonwovenfabric was stacked on the face of the meltblown nonwoven fabric coatedwith the hot melt adhesive. The obtained three-layer laminated productof spunbonded nonwoven fabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric/spunbondednonwoven fabric was wound to obtain an SMS nonwoven fabric. The quantityof ventilation of this SMS nonwoven fabric was 85 cm³/cm²/sec.

Meanwhile, a hot melt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was appliedto the first face of one spunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form froma T-die so that the amount applied was 2 g/m² using a hot melt adhesionmachine. Thereafter, a film was stacked on the first face of thespunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive to obtain aSF nonwoven fabric. The quantity of ventilation of this SF nonwovenfabric was 0.05 cm³/cm²/sec.

The upper garment and lower garment of protective clothing were cut outfrom the SMS nonwoven fabric and joined together using an overlockmachine. The upper garment was coupled with a hood to have the shapeillustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. The lower garment had the shapeillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The hood was composed of the fabric 9 (hereinafter referred to as thehood side face 9) that constituted the portion corresponding to the sidehead and the fabric 8 (hereinafter referred to as the top of head 8)that constituted the portion corresponding to the top of the head. Thehood side face 9 was composed of three parts of an upper part, a centralpart, and a lower part with the opening as a boundary line in thevertical direction when worn and configured by joining the SMS nonwovenfabric for the upper part and lower part and the SF nonwoven fabric forthe central part. An opening having a width of 15 cm and a length of 11cm was provided in the center of the face. A string-shaped engaging toolthat constituted the upper side belt-shaped material 4, was formed ofthe SF nonwoven fabric, and had a width of 2 cm and a length of 130 cmwas sewn on the upper side of the opening. A string-shaped engaging toolthat constituted the right and left sides belt-shaped materials 5, wasformed of the SF nonwoven fabric, and had a width of 2 cm and a lengthof 50 cm was sewn on each of the right and left sides of the opening.The upper ends of the string-shaped engaging tools that constituted thesides belt-shaped materials 5 were placed on the string-shaped engagingtool that constituted the upper side belt-shaped material 4, these wereintegrated to the end portions, and the right and left string-shapedengaging tools were tied at the back of the head to fix the hood at thetime of putting on. By using the SF nonwoven fabric for the central partof the hood side face 9 and the band-shaped engaging tool, dewcondensation does not occur and comfortability can be maintained whengoggles were worn on the hood.

Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm and a length of 10 cm andconstituted the elastic material 12 was sewn on the side hem of theupper garment 1. Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm and a length of 80cm and constituted the elastic material 13 was inserted into the waistof the lower garment 10, and a tool for dimensions adjustment 11 wasattached to the end of the flat rubber. The hem of the upper garment 1was turned up outward by 10 cm, and the upper garment was folded so thatthe fold peak was arranged on the surface and placed in a packing bag.The waist of the lower garment was turned up outward by 20 cm, and thelower garment was folded so that the fold peak was arranged on thesurface and placed in another packing bag. Each of these two packingbags was subjected to electret processing and further sterilizationprocessing using ethylene oxide gas.

With regard to this protective clothing, the wearing feeling when thewearer took out the upper garment and lower garment from the respectivepacking bags, put on the garments, and performed work was evaluatedaccording to the evaluation criteria in Table 1. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2.

Example 2

The upper garment and lower garment of the protective clothing were cutout from the SMS nonwoven fabric used in Example 1 and welded and sewnby supersonic waves. The upper garment was coupled with a hood. Theconfiguration of the hood was the same as that described in Example 1except for the following points. In other words, a string-shapedengaging tool that was formed of the SF nonwoven fabric and had a widthof 2 cm and a length of 60 cm was sewn on the upper side of the opening,and a string-shaped engaging tool that was formed of the SF nonwovenfabric and had a width of 2 cm and a length of 50 cm was sewn on each ofthe right and left sides of the opening. The upper ends of thestring-shaped engaging tools of the right and left sides were placed onthe string-shaped engaging tool of the upper side, these were integratedto the end portions, double-sided tape was pasted to the end portions,and the double-sided tape at the end portions was bonded to the centerof the rear face of the hood to fix the hood at the time of putting on.Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm and a length of 10 cm andconstituted the elastic material 12 was sewn on the side hem of theupper garment 1. Flat rubber having a length of [waist size—5 cm] and awidth of 1 cm as the elastic material 13 was inserted into the waist ofthe lower garment 10. The upper garment 1 was folded in a state wherethe hem thereof was turned up by 10 cm, the waist of the lower garment10 was turned up by 15 cm, and each of the upper and lower garments wasplaced in a packing bag. Each of these was subjected to electretprocessing and further sterilization processing using ethylene oxidegas.

With regard to this protective clothing, the wearing feeling when thewearer took out the upper garment and lower garment from the respectivepacking bags, put on the garments, and performed work was evaluatedaccording to the evaluation criteria in Table 1. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2.

Example 3

In the same manner as in Example 1, an SMS nonwoven fabric was obtainedby sandwiching a meltblown nonwoven fabric between spunbonded nonwovenfabrics used as two front and back nonwoven fabrics.

Meanwhile, a hot melt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was appliedto the film side of the SF nonwoven fabric of Example 1 in a spray formfrom a T-die so that the amount applied was 2 g/m². Thereafter, anotherspunbonded nonwoven fabric was stacked on the film face coated with thehot melt adhesive to obtain an SFS nonwoven fabric.

The upper garment and lower garment of protective clothing were out fromthe SMS nonwoven fabric and joined together using a flat seamingmachine, and the upper garment was coupled with a hood. Theconfiguration of the hood was the same as that described in Example 1except for the following points. In other words, fasteners were sewn onthe front center of the lower portion of the hood and the front centerof the upper garment so that the hood and the upper garment were able tobe released by opening and closing them. When the fastener was closed,an opening having a width of 14 cm and a length of 10 cm was created inthe front center of the hood. The area where the SF nonwoven fabric wasused in Example 1 was replaced with the SFS nonwoven fabric, astring-shaped engaging tool that was formed of the SFS nonwoven fabricand had a width of 2 cm and a length of 130 cm was sewn on the upperside of the opening. A string-shaped engaging tool having a width of 2cm and a length of 50 cm was sewn on each of the right and left sides ofthe opening. The upper ends of the string-shaped engaging tools of theright and left sides were placed on the string-shaped engaging tool ofthe upper side, these were sewn and integrated to the end portions, andthe right and left strings were tied at the back of the head to fix thehood at the time of putting on. Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm anda length of 10 cm and constituted the elastic material 12 was sewn onthe side hem of the upper garment 1. Flat rubber having a width of 1 cmand a length of 80 cm as the elastic material 13 was inserted into thewaist of the lower garment 10, and a tool for dimensions adjustment wasattached to the end of the flat rubber. The upper garment 1 was foldedin a state where the hem thereof was turned up by 5 cm, the waist of thelower garment 10 was turned up by 10 cm, and each of the upper and lowergarments was placed in a packing bag. Each of these was subjected toelectret processing and further sterilization processing using ethyleneoxide gas.

With regard to this protective clothing, the wearing feeling when thewearer took out the upper garment and lower garment from the respectivepacking bags, put on the garments, and performed work was evaluatedaccording to the evaluation criteria in Table 1. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2. When the protectiveclothing was put on in this Example, the upper garment was taken outfrom the packing bag and first pulled over the hood of the uppergarment, and both arms passed through the sleeves, and then the frontopening fastener was pulled up to the front center opening of the hoodto put on the protective clothing. Thereafter, the lower garment wastaken out from the packing bag and put on.

Example 4

Protective clothing was sewn, packed, and evaluated in the same manneras in Example 1 except that the upper garment and the lower garment werejoined together using a flat seaming machine so as to cover the clothends with piping tape when the upper garment and lower garment ofprotective clothing were sewn.

Example 5

Two spunbonded nonwoven fabrics were used, and a hot melt adhesiveheated to 150° C. and melted was applied to the first face of onespunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so that theamount applied was 1.5 g/m² using a hot melt adhesion machine.Thereafter, a meltblown nonwoven fabric was stacked on the first face ofthe spunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive. A hotmelt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was further applied to themeltblown nonwoven fabric side of the obtained spunbonded nonwovenfabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so thatthe amount applied was 1.5 g/m². Thereafter, the other spunbondednonwoven fabric was stacked on the face of the meltblown nonwoven fabriccoated with the hot melt adhesive. The obtained three-layer laminatedproduct of spunbonded nonwoven fabric/meltblown nonwovenfabric/spunbonded nonwoven fabric was wound to obtain an SMS nonwovenfabric. The quantity of ventilation of this SMS nonwoven fabric was 100cm³/cm²/sec.

Meanwhile, a hot melt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was appliedto the first face of one spunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form froma T-die so that the amount applied was 1 g/m² using a hot melt adhesionmachine. Thereafter, a film was stacked on the first face of thespunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive to obtain aSF nonwoven fabric. The quantity of ventilation of this SF nonwovenfabric was 10 cm³/cm²/sec.

Protective clothing was sewn, packed, and evaluated using these SMSnonwoven fabric and SF nonwoven fabric in the same manner as in Example2.

Example 6

Two spunbonded nonwoven fabrics were used, and a hot melt adhesiveheated to 150° C. and melted was applied to the first face of onespunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so that theamount applied was 2.5 g/m² using a hot melt adhesion machine.Thereafter, a meltblown nonwoven fabric was stacked on the first face ofthe spunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive. A hotmelt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was further applied to themeltblown nonwoven fabric side of the obtained spunbonded nonwovenfabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so thatthe amount applied was 2.5 g/m². Thereafter, the other spunbondednonwoven fabric was stacked on the face of the meltblown nonwoven fabriccoated with the hot melt adhesive. The obtained three-layer laminatedproduct of spunbonded nonwoven fabric/meltblown nonwovenfabric/spunbonded nonwoven fabric was wound to obtain an SMS nonwovenfabric. The quantity of ventilation of this SMS nonwoven fabric was 60cm³/cm²/sec.

Meanwhile, a hot melt adhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was appliedto the film side of the SF nonwoven fabric of Example 1 in a spray formfrom a T-die so that the amount applied was 2 g/m². Thereafter, anotherspunbonded nonwoven fabric was stacked on the film face coated with thehot melt adhesive to obtain an SFS nonwoven fabric.

Protective clothing was sewn, packed, and evaluated using these SMSnonwoven fabric and SFS nonwoven fabric in the same manner as in Example3.

Comparative Example 1

An upper garment with hood and a lower garment were sewn using a singlelayer of polyethylene flashspun nonwoven fabric as the material using anoverlock machine to obtain protective clothing. The hood had abisymmetrical shape as illustrated in FIG. 6 and obtained by joining tworight and left pieces together. Flat rubber having a width of 1 cm and alength of 60 cm was inserted into the waist of the lower garment. Withregard to this protective clothing, the upper garment was folded withoutturning up the hem thereof, the lower garment was folded without turningup the waist portion thereof, and each of the upper and lower garmentswas placed in a packing bag and subjected to electret processing andfurther sterilization processing using ethylene oxide gas.

This protective clothing was subjected to a putting on test similar tothat for the protective clothing of Examples 1 to 3. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2.

Comparative Example 2

Protective clothing was sewn using the SMS nonwoven fabric obtained inExample 1 in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the followingpoints were changed. The hood had a shape in which the top of the headand the side head were sewn in the same manner as in Example 1, anopening having a width of 15 cm and a length of 11 cm was provided inthe center, but the hood was sewn using only the SMS nonwoven fabric andfinished without attaching an engaging tool. Sewing was performed bysupersonic welding. With regard to this protective clothing, the uppergarment was folded without turning up the hem thereof, the lower garmentwas folded without turning up the waist portion thereof, and each of theupper and lower garments was placed in a packing bag and subjected toelectret processing and further sterilization processing using ethyleneoxide gas.

This protective clothing was subjected to a putting on test similar tothat for the protective clothing of Examples 1 to 3. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2.

Comparative Example 3

Coverall type protective clothing in which the upper garment and thelower garment were connected with each other was sewn using the SFnonwoven fabric obtained in Example 1. A coverall type has a shape inwhich the hood, front body, back body, sleeves, and trousers areintegrated and is in a form in which a fastener was sewn on the frontbody and the protective clothing can be thus opened and closed. The hoodhad a bisymmetrical shape illustrated in FIG. 6 and was obtained byjoining two right and left pieces together. A string-shaped engagingtool having a width of 2 cm and a length of 60 cm was sewn on the rightand left sides of the opening using the same SF nonwoven fabric as thatfor the body. The protective clothing was folded, placed in a packingbag, and subjected to electret processing and further sterilizationprocessing using ethylene oxide gas.

This protective clothing was subjected to a putting on test similar tothat for the protective clothing of Examples 1 to 3. The results arepresented in Table 3, and the physical property values and configurationof the protective clothing are presented in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Main parts of protective clothing (upper garment, lower garment,coverall) Quantity of Shape of Material ventilation Collectingprotective Length of used (cm³/cm²/sec) efficiency (%) clothing uppergarment Example 1 SMS 85 90 Pulling upper Length reaching nonwovengarment and vicinity of fabric long pants type wearer's lower garmentbuttock top Example 2 SMS 85 90 Pulling upper Length reaching nonwovengarment and vicinity of fabric long pants type wearer's lower garmentbuttock top Example 3 SMS 85 90 Front opening Length reaching nonwovenupper garment vicinity of fabric and long pants wearer's type lowerbuttock top garment Example 4 SMS 85 90 Pulling upper Length reachingnonwoven garment and vicinity of fabric long pants type wearer's lowergarment buttock top Example 5 SMS 100 85 Pulling upper Length reachingnonwoven garment and vicinity of fabric long pants type wearer's lowergarment buttock top Example 6 SMS 60 93 Front opening Length reachingnonwoven upper garment vicinity of fabric and long pants wearer's typelower buttock top garment Comparative Polyethylene 8.5 88 Pulling upperLength reaching Example 1 flashspun garment and vicinity of long pantstype wearer's lower garment buttock top Comparative SMS 85 90 Pullingupper Length reaching Example 2 nonwoven garment and vicinity of fabriclong pants type wearer's lower garment buttock top Comparative SF 0.1 85Coverall — Example 3 nonwoven fabric Sewing specification of hood Stringof String of right and upper side left sides Sewing Packing MaterialShape of opening of opening method method Example 1 SMS + SF Top ofPresence Presence Overlock Folded and nonwoven head and machine packedso as fabrics side head sewing fold peaks Example 2 SMS + SF Top ofPresence Presence Supersonic formed by nonwoven head and welding turningup hem fabrics side head sewing of upper garment Example 3 SMS + SFS Topof Presence Presence Flat and waist nonwoven head and seaming portion oflower fabrics side head machine garment outward sewing are arrangedExample 4 SMS + SF Top of Presence Presence Flat (exposed) in nonwovenhead and seaming vicinity of fabrics side head machine + opening. pipingsewing Example 5 SMS + SF Top of Presence Presence Supersonic nonwovenhead and welding fabrics side head sewing Example 6 SMS + SFS Top ofPresence Presence Flat nonwoven head and seaming fabrics side headmachine sewing Comparative Polyethylene Two right Absence AbsenceOverlock Folded and Example 1 flashspun and left machine packed so aspieces sewing both hem of Comparative SMS Top of Absence AbsenceSupersonic upper garment Example 2 nonwoven head and welding and waistfabric side head sewing portion of lower garment are not turned upoutward. Comparative SF Two right Absence Presence Flat Coverall typeExample 3 nonwoven and left seaming protective fabric pieces machineclothing was sewing folded and packed in packing bag.

TABLE 3 Wearing feel (scores) Presence or Fixing absence of dew WearingEase of property condensation in comfortability putting on of hoodVisibility hood Sum Example 1 3 3 3 3 3 15 Example 2 3 3 3 3 3 15Example 3 3 3 3 3 3 15 Example 4 3 3 3 3 3 15 Example 5 3 3 3 3 3 15Example 6 2 2 3 3 3 13 Comparative 1 2 1 1 3 8 Example 1 Comparative 2 31 2 1 9 Example 2 Comparative 1 1 2 1 3 8 Example 3

Reference Example 1

Two spunbonded nonwoven fabrics were used, and a hot melt adhesiveheated to 150° C. and melted was applied to the first face of onespunbonded nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so that theamount applied was 2 g/m² using a hot melt adhesion machine. Thereafter,a meltblown nonwoven fabric was stacked on the first face of thespunbonded nonwoven fabric coated with the hot melt adhesive. A hot meltadhesive heated to 150° C. and melted was further applied to themeltblown nonwoven fabric side of the obtained spunbonded nonwovenfabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric in a spray form from a T-die so thatthe amount applied was 2 g/m². Thereafter, the other spunbonded nonwovenfabric was stacked on the face of the meltblown nonwoven fabric coatedwith the hot melt adhesive. The obtained three-layer laminated productof spunbonded nonwoven fabric/meltblown nonwoven fabric/spunbondednonwoven fabric was wound to obtain an SMS nonwoven fabric.

The upper garment and lower garment of protective clothing were cut outfrom the SMS nonwoven fabric and joined together using an overlockmachine. The upper garment had the shape illustrated in FIG. 1 and thelower garment had the shape illustrated in FIG. 7. An opening having awidth of 15 cm and a length of 11 cm was provided in the center of thecentral part of the hood. A string-shaped engaging tool that constitutedthe upper side belt-shaped material 4, was formed of the same nonwovenfabric, and had a width of 2 cm and a length of 130 cm was sewn on theupper side of the opening. A string-shaped engaging tool thatconstituted the right and left sides belt-shaped materials 5 and had awidth of 2 cm and a length of 50 cm was sewn on each of the right andleft sides of the opening. The upper ends of the string-shaped engagingtools that constituted the sides belt-shaped materials 5 were placed onthe string-shaped engaging tool that constituted the upper sidebelt-shaped material 4, these were integrated to the end portions, andthe right and left strings were tied at the back of the head to fix thehood at the time of putting on.

Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm and a length of 10 cm andconstituted the elastic material 12 (hem rubber) was sewn on the sidehem of the upper garment 1. Flat rubber that had a width of 1 cm and alength of 95 cm and constituted the elastic material 13 (elastic rubber)was inserted into the waist of the lower garment 10, and a tool fordimensions adjustment 11 was attached to the end of the flat rubber.

The following steps (upper 1) to (upper 5) were performed on the uppergarment 1 of this protective clothing. In other words, the hem of theupper garment was turned up outward by 10 cm as illustrated in FIG. 9and the upper garment was folded so that a fold peak 39 of the back bodywas arranged on the surface and placed in a packing bag as illustratedin FIG. 11.

(Upper 1) The upper garment is spread out with the front body up so asnot to wrinkle.

(Upper 2) The hem is turned up to the front side.

(Upper 3) The right and left sleeves are folded inward.

(Upper 4) The hood is folded inward.

(Upper 5) The upper garment is folded so that the fold peak of (upper 2)overlaps the fold peak where the hood is folded. The upper garment isinserted into the packing bag 11 so that the turned up portion of theback body is at the top and the fold peak is on the taking out port sideof the packing bag.

The following steps (lower 1) to (lower 5) were performed. In otherwords, the waist of the lower garment was turned up outward by 25 cm asillustrated in FIG. 10, and the lower garment was folded so that thefold peak was arranged on the surface and placed in a packing bag. Eachof these two packing bags was subjected to sterilization processing.

(Lower 1) The lower garment is spread out with the back body up so asnot to wrinkle.

(Lower 2) The waist is turned up to the front side.

(Lower 3) The right and left side lines are folded inward.

(Lower 4) The trousers are folded upward from the ankles.

(Lower 5) The lower garment is inserted into the packing bag 18 so thatthe fold peak of (lower 2) is on the taking out port side of the packingbag.

With regard to the protective clothing packed as described above, theupper garment and the lower garment were taken out from the respectivepacking bags, put on, and evaluated. The results are presented in Table4.

Reference Example 2

Protective clothing was obtained and packed using the same SMS nonwovenfabric as that used in Reference Example 1 in the same manner as inReference Example 1 except that the following points were changed. Inother words, the amount of hem of the upper garment turned up waschanged to 18 cm. With regard to the lower garment, flat rubber having awidth of 1 cm was cut into a length of 60 cm and inserted into thewaist, and the lower garment was packed by turning up the waist by 10cm.

The putting on time was measured when the upper and lower garments ofthe protective clothing were taken out from the respective packing bagsand put on. As a result, it took time to pass through the buttocks sincethe lower garment did not have a tool for dimensions adjustment. It alsotook some time to put on the lower garment since the lower garmentlength 36 was longer than that in Reference Example 1, but there wasalmost no attachment of para-pollutants. The evaluation results arepresented in Table 4.

Reference Example 3

Protective clothing composed of a front-opening upper garment and alower garment was sewn using the SMS nonwoven fabric obtained inReference Example 1. The upper garment was in a form in which the frontcenter was able to be released and was able to be opened and closed as afastener was sewn thereon. In the same manner as in Reference Example 1,hem rubber was sewn on the side hem. The protective clothing wasprepared in the same manner as in Reference Example 1 except that theprotective clothing was packed by turning up the hem of the uppergarment of the protective clothing by 8 cm and the hem of the lowergarment of the protective clothing by 15 cm in a state where the frontfastener of the upper garment was closed.

The putting on time was measured when the upper and lower garments ofthe protective clothing were taken out from the respective packing bagsand put on. It took more time to put on the upper garment since thenumber of putting on steps was increased by two steps to open the frontfastener, put on the upper garment, and then close the fastener, butthere was almost no attachment of para-pollutants. The evaluationresults are presented in Table 4.

Reference Example 4

A parka type upper garment with hood and a lower garment were sewn usinga single layer of polyethylene flashspun nonwoven fabric as the materialusing a flat seaming machine. Flat rubber having a width of 1 cm and alength of 60 cm was inserted into the waist of the lower garment. Withregard to this protective clothing, the upper garment was folded withoutturning up the hem thereof, the lower garment was folded without turningup the waist portion thereof, and each of the upper and lower garmentswas placed in a packing bag and subjected sterilization processing.

A putting on test similar to that for the protective clothing describedabove was conducted. The evaluation results are presented in Table 4.The number of putting on procedures was the same as that in ReferenceExample 1, but the attachment of para-pollutants was observed on the hemof the upper garment, the waist of the lower garment, the hem of thelower garment, and the buttocks of the lower garment. It was difficultto put on the upper garment and lower garment without touching theoutside at the time of putting on. For example, the outside of both theupper garment and lower garment of the protective clothing was broughtinto contact with the wearer when the packing bag was opened, and therewas a number of contact areas with the outside. The putting on time wasalso long.

Reference Example 5

Coverall type protective clothing in which the upper garment and thelower garment were connected with each other was sewn using the SMSnonwoven fabric obtained in Reference Example 1, and a putting on testsimilar to that for the protective clothing described above wasconducted. The evaluation results are presented in Table 4.

As illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, the attachment of para-pollutants wasobserved in the vicinity of the front center of the protective clothing,at the top of the hood, on the upper part of the back body, and at thehood attached position. It is considered that the wearer has to touchthese parts in order to put on the hood, raise the fastener, or adjustthe hood and the front center at the time of putting on. It took time tofind a place where the attachment of para-pollutants to the outside ofthe protective clothing was less likely to occur when the packing bagwas opened and the protective clothing was taken out, and it also took along time to put on the protective clothing since the wearer took anawkward posture so that the trousers did not come into contact with thefloor at the time of putting on. As a result, there was a number ofcontact areas with the outside.

Reference Example 6

Coverall type protective clothing in which the upper garment and thelower garment were connected with each other was sewn using the SMSnonwoven fabric obtained in Reference Example 1. However, a separatehood was used as the hood, and the protective clothing itself was placedin a packing bag as a coverall type without a hood and subjected tosterilization processing. As the order of putting on, the hood was firstput on the head and fixed with the strings. Next, protective clothingwas put on and the hood was completely placed in the protective clothingto prevent the hood from coming out. A putting on test similar to thatfor the protective clothing described above was conducted. Theevaluation results are presented in Table 4.

The attachment was observed at the top of the hood, in the vicinity ofthe front center of the coverall, and in the periphery of the collar ofthe coverall. It is considered that the wearer has to touch these partsin order to put on the hood, adjust the worn state, and place the hoodin the coverall. It took time to find a place where the attachment ofpara-pollutants to the outside of the protective clothing did not occurwhen the packing bag was opened, and it also took a long time to put onthe protective clothing since the trousers came into contact with thefloor and the hood was placed in the coverall at the time of putting on.As a result, there was a number of contact areas with the outside.

TABLE 4 Evaluation results Number of Shape of protective putting onPutting on Attachment of para- clothing Amount turned up procedures timepollutants Reference Pulling upper garment Upper garment: 7 2 minutesAlmost none Example 1 with hood and lower 10 cm 30 seconds garment Lowergarment: 25 cm Reference Pulling upper garment Upper garment: 7 3minutes Almost none Example 2 with hood and lower 18 cm garment Lowergarment: 10 cm Reference Front opening upper Upper garment: 9 3 minutesAlmost none Example 3 garment with hood and  8 cm 20 seconds lowergarment Lower garment: 15 cm Reference Pulling upper garment  0 cm 7 6minutes Attached to hem of upper Example 4 with hood and lower 10seconds garment, waist of lower garment garment, hem of lower garment,and buttock of lower garment Reference Coverall with hood  0 cm 6 7minutes Attached to vicinity of Example 5 50 seconds front center, topof hood, upper part of back body, and hood attached position (see FIGS.13 and 14) Reference Coverall without  0 cm 9 8 minutes Attached to topof hood, Example 6 hood + separate hood 20 seconds vicinity of frontcenter of coverall, and periphery of collar of coverall (to place hoodin coverall)

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The protective clothing of the present invention is excellent in wearingcomfortability, suppresses the occurrence of dew condensation, and isthus suitably worn in a closed space such as a clean room.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE SIGNS

-   -   1: Upper garment of protective clothing    -   2: Hood    -   3: Opening    -   4: Upper side belt-shaped material    -   5: Right and left side belt-shaped material    -   6: Low breathable nonwoven fabric    -   7: Highly breathable nonwoven fabric    -   8: Fabric (top of head) that constitutes portion corresponding        to top of head    -   9: Fabric (hood side face) that constitutes portion        corresponding to side head    -   10: Lower garment of protective clothing    -   11: Tool for dimensions adjustment    -   12: Elastic material for side hem of upper garment    -   13: Elastic material for waist of lower garment    -   14: Hem end of upper garment    -   15: Amount of upper garment turned up    -   16: Amount of lower garment turned up    -   17: Waist end of lower garment    -   18: Packing bag    -   19: Notch    -   A: Cheek bow width    -   B: Distance from a portion between eyebrows to chin    -   C: Coupled portion between upper side belt-shaped material and        right and left side belt-shaped material

1. Protective clothing coupled with a hood that is composed of anonwoven fabric having a quantity of ventilation of 20 cm³/cm²/sec ormore and 150 cm³/cm²/sec or less and a nonwoven fabric having a quantityof ventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19 cm³/cm²/sec or less,wherein the hood has an opening at a position to be center of a wearer'sface and belt-shaped materials at an upper side of the opening and atlower portions of right and left sides of the opening, and the twobelt-shaped materials are coupled with or configured to be couplablewith each other at right and left side heads.
 2. The protective clothingaccording to claim 1, wherein the opening is formed in front center ofthe hood, the opening having a size of 13 cm to 16 cm in width and 9 cmto 13 cm in length, and the nonwoven fabric having a quantity ofventilation of 0 cm³/cm²/sec or more and 19 cm³/cm²/sec or less isdisposed at least at a part of vicinity of the opening.
 3. Theprotective clothing according to claim 1, wherein the protectiveclothing comprises an upper garment having a length reaching vicinity ofbuttock top of a wearer and the hood is coupled onto the upper garment.4. The protective clothing according to claim 3, wherein the protectiveclothing is packed in a packing bag by being folded so that a fold peakformed by turning up hem of the upper garment outward is arranged on asurface.
 5. The protective clothing according to claim 3, wherein theprotective clothing comprises a lower garment that can cover from awaist portion to ankles.
 6. The protective clothing according to claim5, wherein a tool for dimensions adjustment is provided at the waistportion of the lower garment.
 7. The protective clothing according toclaim 5, wherein the protective clothing is packed in a packing bag bybeing folded so that a fold peak formed by turning up the waist portionof the lower garment outward is arranged on a surface.
 8. The protectiveclothing according to claim 4, wherein the protective clothing is packedso that the fold peak of the upper garment is exposed when the packingbag is opened.
 9. The protective clothing according to claim 1, whereinthe protective clothing has been subjected to sterilization processing.10. The protective clothing according to claim 1, wherein the protectiveclothing is for use in a clean room.
 11. The protective clothingaccording to claim 1, wherein the protective clothing is disposable. 12.The protective clothing according to claim 7, wherein the protectiveclothing is packed so that the fold peak of the lower garment is exposedwhen the packing bag is opened.